What Are Square Enix Working On… A Look At Their Studios
Square Enix is perhaps the busiest developer, outside of the console makers, as they are constantly releasing new games, as well as keeping just as many going with content updates.
In 2023 the studio released 13 titles, though one of those could be replaced by six, if you want to count each game in the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster as a unique release. Where they differ from other game makers is that they often have external development companies do the work for them, whilst they oversee things. They do make games internally of course, but this split between internal and external development is what they have been doing for a while.
With that in mind, when you see the last game released for each unit, just know that its not going to always be an internally developed title, so with that, let us see what we can find out for this Japanese game powerhouse.
CREATIVE BUSINESS UNIT I
Last Game Released: Star Ocean: The Second Story R | Series: Final Fantasy series, Kingdom Hearts series, SaGa series
2023 was meant to be a massive year for this group, if only because Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was due to release, at some point during the year, but then we got word that the game was slipping into 2024. But that does not mean that the group did not have a busy year regardless.
So what does 2024 look like? Well they have the previously mentioned Final Fantasy game to come out, but there is more to come. Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link was first announced back in April 2022 and is set in Scala ad Caelum between the events of Union X and Dark Road. The game had a very limited closed beta in Australia at the end of 2023, but a full release is expected in 2024, exactly when is unknown. If that was not enough, the studio also has SaGa Emerald Beyond set to release in April and Kingdom Hearts IV is also in development, though I don’t think we will see much on that last one this year, though happy to be proven wrong.
CREATIVE BUSINESS UNIT II
Last Game Released: Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince | Series: Dragon Quest series, Nier series, Bravely series, Octopath Traveler series
2023 saw this group oversee the release of three Dragon Quest games and while both good in their own way, they are not the two games people want, more on that in a bit. The year kicked things off with the release of Octopath Traveler II for most platforms and then the division was pretty quite until the three Dragon Quest games released. 2023 also saw this business unit pick up Luminous Productions, the folks behind Forspoken, which sort of launched and then vanished.
As for 2024, this is going to be a much harder group to guess on than any other we have done. Firstly the group will keep content coming for titles like Dragon Quest X for Japan, both the online and offline versions, along with the slew of Dragon Quest mobile games that exist. It would also not be surprising to see Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince jump from Switch to PC soon, as the same thing happened with Dragon Quest Treasures only months after its release. As for new games, we know there are two Dragon Quest games in development, Dragon Quest 12 and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. The problem is that since their reveal, we have not seen anything on them at all and while DQ12 will take longer to make than the DQ3 remake, last year, it was expected that news was coming, confirmed by series creator Yuji Horii. While the latter of the two titles is progressing, as Horii-san confirmed in December that he was “playtest the Dragon Quest 3 remake“.
Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate is the name of the 12th mainline entry in the beloved series, which is set to be darker in nature than past games, it will also be the first mainline game to not have music composed by Koichi Sugiyama. Right now the game is aiming for a late 2024 or early 2025 release, at least based on rumours, if that timeline is accurate, then we should hear about it this May, if not, then who knows when.
CREATIVE BUSINESS UNIT III
Last Game Released: Final Fantasy XVI | Series: Final Fantasy MMOs, Dragon Quest Builders series
If there was any group that gamers attention was focused on in 2023, it was this one as they release a small game called Final Fantasy XVI and that was it. Well not true, they did release a lot of updates for Final Fantasy XIV.
I would normally say after a massive release, the group will go silent for a while, but as they produce two MMOs, they have a bit to do. Final Fantasy XI is still delivering updates and events and Final Fantasy XIV has released details on this years expansion, Dawntrail. That expansion is expected to arrive sometime in the Winter months, but there will be updates across the year. The group are also working on the major expansion for Final Fantasy XIV, plus the expected PC port, so we will hear from them this year across the year.
CREATIVE BUSINESS UNIT VI
Last Game Released: Trials of Mana | Series: Mana series
This is probably the less well know unit from the four, but they made a splash at the end of 2023 with the reveal of Visions of Mana. Sadly 2023 also saw the end of Echoes of Mana, a mobile game that released in April 2022 and then ended 11 months later.
With the team having Visions of Mana expected to release this year, we should here from them quite a bit. It has been a while since they have released any new mobile game, with Collection of SaGa: Final Fantasy Legend being 2021, Grimms Echoes being 2019 and Kou-Kyou-Sei Million Arthur in 2018. But as always, mobile game development means that we may not see anything until they are ready to go live.
TOKYO RPG FACTORY
Last Game Released: Oninaki | Series: I Am Setsuna, Lost Sphear
2019 was the last time we heard from this group, when they released Oninaki, which was the third game released within a 3 year period. We heard that they were working on something new at the end of 2019 and since then, nothing.
Given their small size, around 10 people full time, its possible that they were pulled into other games at times, but honestly, we don’t know what they are up to. If they have been working on their next game, this year is the time for it to be revealed, otherwise I suspect they might end up like Luminous.
TAITO CORPORATION
Last Game Released: Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! | Series: Bubble Bobble series, Gunslinger Stratos series, Space Invaders series
2023 saw the folks release a new entry in the Bubble Bobble series, at least that was not for VR, before that it was 2020. Taito have been working with ININ Games from Germany, to bring their games to the west, both new and old, which is how we got the Taito Milestones 2 last year. For those wondering if the group have done anything for the arcades, in December 2023, they helped bring Street Fighter 6 to players via Type Arcade.
There is no word on what they are doing next, however given they seem to release games all the time, their name will likely pop up in 2024.
Square Enix Europe
Last Game Released: Little Goody Two Shoes | Series: Many
Not a developer per say, the European group of Square Enix is a publisher of games from other studios, usually under the label of Square Enix Collective. 2023 brought Little Goody Two Shoes and Circuit Superstars to players, but what does 2024 have in store?
There are two projects we know about, first up is the Gex Trilogy, which doesn’t have a release date or even a window, but 2024 is likely. The other project is only known as Project Gemini and is being created by People Can Fly. There is no word if the game is all-new or connected to their Outriders world, which Square Enix also published. Given the proposed date for release is 2026, its unlikely we will hear about it this year.
So there we go, all we know about Square Enix in 2024. Do you think we are close or way off? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
